Category:Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto 06 Chapter 01 - The History of the Life of Ajamila
Pages in category "Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto 06 Chapter 01 - The History of the Life of Ajamila"
The following 93 pages are in this category, out of 93 total.
A
- Above the five senses of perception, the five working senses and the five objects of the senses is the mind, which is the sixteenth element. Above the mind is the seventeenth element, the soul
- Above the mind is the seventeenth element, the soul, the living being himself, who, in cooperation with the other sixteen, enjoys the material world alone. The living being enjoys three kinds of situations, namely happy, distressful and mixed
- Ajamila saw three awkward persons with deformed bodily features, fierce, twisted faces, and hair standing erect on their bodies. With ropes in their hands, they had come to take him away to the abode of Yamaraja
- All living entities are awarded different qualities, different names (such as brahmana, ksatriya and vaisya), different duties according to the varnasrama institution, and different forms. Thus Narayana is the cause of the entire cosmic manifestation
- Although born of a brahmana family, this rascal, bereft of intelligence because of the prostitute's association, earned money somehow or other, regardless of whether properly or improperly, and used it to maintain the prostitute's sons and daughters
- Although not having fully realized Krsna, persons who have even once surrendered completely unto His lotus feet and who have become attracted to His name, form, qualities and pastimes are completely freed of all sinful reactions
- Always engaged in taking care of the child and calling his name, Narayana, Ajamila could not understand that his own time was now exhausted and that death was upon him
- As a sleeping person acts according to the body manifested in his dreams & accepts it to be himself, so one identifies with his present body, which he acquired because of his past religious or irreligious acts & is unable to know his past or future lives
- As an expert physician diagnoses and treats a disease according to its gravity, one should undergo atonement according to the severity of one's sins
- As far as possible he patiently tried to remember the instructions of the sastras not even to see a woman
B
- Both the sudra and the prostitute were drunk. The prostitute's eyes were rolling in intoxication, and her dress had become loose. Such was the condition in which Ajamila saw them
- By following that path, one is certainly elevated gradually to the highest planetary system, Brahmaloka, from which one is promoted to the spiritual world along with Lord Brahma. Thus one's repetition of birth and death in the material world ceases
- By following these inclinations he traverses the path called pravrtti-marga, by which one may be elevated to the heavenly planets, as you have already described (in the Third Canto)
H
- He (a rare person) can do this (uproot the weeds of sinful actions with no possibility that they will revive) simply by discharging devotional service, just as the sun can immediately dissipate fog by its rays
- He (Ajamila) was upright, benevolent to all living entities, and well behaved. He would never speak nonsense or envy anyone
- He (the foolish embodied living entity, inept at controlling his senses and mind) is like a silkworm that uses its own saliva to create a cocoon and then becomes trapped in it, with no possibility of getting out
- He irresponsibly spent his long lifetime transgressing all the rules and regulations of the holy scripture, living extravagantly and eating food prepared by a prostitute. Therefore he is full of sins. He is unclean and is addicted to forbidden activities
- He was always truthful, he knew how to chant the Vedic mantras, and he was also very pure. Ajamila was very respectful to his spiritual master, the fire-god, guests, and the elderly members of his household. Indeed, he was free from false prestige
I
- If one follows the regulative principles of knowledge, he gradually progresses toward liberation from material contamination
- In all conditions, however, he is actually miserable. His miserable condition is called samsrti, or transmigration in material life
- In proportion to the extent of one's religious or irreligious actions in this life, one must enjoy or suffer the corresponding reactions of his karma in the next
- In the beginning this brahmana named Ajamila studied all the Vedic literatures. He was a reservoir of good character, good conduct and good qualities
- In the city known as Kanyakubja there was a brahmana named Ajamila who married a prostitute maidservant and lost all his brahminical qualities because of the association of that low-class woman
- In the same way that the sun and moon are eclipsed by a low planet, the brahmana lost all his good sense
- In this regard, learned scholars and saintly persons describe a very old historical incident involving a discussion between the order carriers of Lord Visnu and those of Yamaraja. Please hear of this from me - Sukadeva Gosvami
- It is like the bathing of an elephant, for an elephant cleanses itself by taking a full bath, but then throws dust over its head and body as soon as it returns to the land
M
- Maharaja Pariksit said: O my lord, O Sukadeva Gosvami, you have already described (in the Second Canto) the path of liberation (nivrtti-marga)
- My dear King, as a pot containing liquor cannot be purified even if washed in the waters of many rivers, nondevotees cannot be purified by processes of atonement even if they perform them very well
- My dear King, if a diseased person eats the pure, uncontaminated food prescribed by a physician, he is gradually cured, and the infection of disease can no longer touch him
- My dear King, if a sinful person engages in the service of a bona fide devotee of the Lord and thus learns how to dedicate his life unto the lotus feet of Krsna, he can be completely purified
- My dear King, the order carriers of Visnu, the Visnudutas, immediately arrived when they heard the holy name of their master from the mouth of the dying Ajamila, who had certainly chanted without offense because he had chanted in complete anxiety
- My dear King, while he thus spent his time in abominable, sinful activities to maintain his family of many sons, eighty-eight years of his life passed by
N
- Nevertheless, in spite of such knowledge, one is forced to commit sins again and again, even after performing acts of atonement. Therefore, what is the value of such atonement?
- Not a single living entity can remain unengaged even for a moment. One must act by his natural tendency according to the three modes of material nature because this natural tendency forcibly makes him work in a particular way
O
- O greatly fortunate and opulent Sukadeva Gosvami, now kindly tell me how human beings may be saved from having to enter hellish conditions in which they suffer terrible pains
- Old Ajamila was very much attached to him because of the child's broken language and awkward movements. He always took care of the child and enjoyed the child's activities
- On the way home, he came upon a sudra, a very lusty, fourth-class man, who was shamelessly embracing and kissing a prostitute. The sudra was smiling, singing and enjoying as if this were proper behavior
- Once this brahmana Ajamila, following the order of his father, went to the forest to collect fruit, flowers and two kinds of grass, called samit and kusa
- One cannot be purified merely by undergoing austerity, penance, brahmacarya and the other methods of atonement I (Sukadeva Gosvami) have previously described
- One may know that sinful activity is injurious for him because he actually sees that a criminal is punished by the government and rebuked by people in general
- One who has accepted a material body cannot be inactive, and sinful action is inevitable for one acting under the modes of material nature. Therefore all the living entities within this material world are punishable
- Only a rare person who has adopted complete, unalloyed devotional service to Krsna can uproot the weeds of sinful actions with no possibility that they will revive
S
- Since the living entity is associated with material nature, he is in an awkward position, but if in the human form of life he is taught how to associate with the Supreme Personality of Godhead or His devotee, this position can be overcome
- Sometimes one who is very alert so as not to commit sinful acts is victimized by sinful life again. I therefore consider this process of repeated sinning and atoning to be useless
- Sukadeva Gosvami continued: Being thus addressed by the messengers of Yamaraja, the servants of Vasudeva smiled and spoke the following words in voices as deep as the sound of rumbling clouds
- Sukadeva Gosvami, the son of Vedavyasa, answered: My dear King, since acts meant to neutralize impious actions are also fruitive, they will not release one from the tendency to act fruitively
T
- That old man Ajamila had ten sons, of whom the youngest was a baby named Narayana. Since Narayana was the youngest of all the sons, he was naturally very dear to both his father and his mother
- The blessed messengers of Lord Visnu, the Visnudutas, said: If you are actually servants of Yamaraja, you must explain to us the meaning of religious principles and the symptoms of irreligion
- The candidates for punishment are those who are confirmed by these many witnesses to have deviated from their prescribed regulative duties. Everyone engaged in fruitive activities is suitable to be subjected to punishment according to his sinful acts
- The foolish embodied living entity, inept at controlling his senses and mind, is forced to act according to the influence of the modes of material nature, against his desires
- The fruitive activities a living being performs, whether pious or impious, are the unseen cause for the fulfillment of his desires. This unseen cause is the root for the living entity's different bodies
- The living entities are thus known as peaceful, restless and foolish; as happy, unhappy or in-between; or as religious, irreligious and semireligious. We can deduce that in the next life these three kinds of material nature will similarly act
- The living entity takes birth in a particular family and receives a body which is either like that of his mother or like that of his father because of his intense desire. The gross and subtle bodies are created according to his desire
- The living entity traps himself in a network of his own fruitive activities and then can find no way to release himself. Thus he is always bewildered, and repeatedly he dies
- The omnipotent Yamaraja is as good as Lord Brahma for while situated in his own abode or in everyone's heart like the Paramatma, he mentally observes the past activities of a living entity & thus understands how the living entity will act in future lives
- The order carriers of Yamaraja were snatching the soul from the core of the heart of Ajamila, the husband of the prostitute, but with resounding voices the messengers of Lord Visnu, the Visnudutas, forbade them to do so
- The path followed by pure devotees, who are well behaved and fully endowed with the best qualifications, is certainly the most auspicious path in this material world. It is free from fear, and it is authorized by the sastras
- The subtle body is endowed with sixteen parts - the five knowledge-acquiring senses, the five working senses, the five objects of sense gratification, and the mind. This subtle body is an effect of the three modes of material nature
- The sudra, his arm decorated with turmeric powder, was embracing the prostitute. When Ajamila saw her, the dormant lusty desires in his heart awakened, and in illusion he fell under their control
- The sun, fire, sky, air, demigods, moon, evening, day, night, directions, water, land and Supersoul Himself all witness the activities of the living entity
- The supreme cause of all causes, Narayana, is situated in His own abode in the spiritual world, but nevertheless He controls the entire cosmic manifestation according to the three modes of material nature-sattva-guna, rajo-guna and tamo-guna
- The Supreme Personality of Godhead created this material world with various universes, planetary systems, planets and stars, with varied lands, seas, oceans, mountains, rivers, gardens and trees, all with different characteristics
- The victimized Ajamila engaged in sinful acts in her association because his intelligence was pierced by the lustful glance of the prostitute. He even gave up the company of his very beautiful young wife, who came from a very respectable brahmana family
- The Yamadutas replied: That which is prescribed in the Vedas constitutes dharma, the religious principles, and the opposite of that is irreligion. The Vedas are directly the SPG, Narayana, and are self-born. This we have heard from Yamaraja
- Therefore real atonement is enlightenment in perfect knowledge, Vedanta, by which one understands the Supreme Absolute Truth
- Therefore, before one's next death comes, as long as one's body is strong enough, one should quickly adopt the process of atonement according to sastra; otherwise one's time will be lost, and the reactions of his sins will increase
- These are divided among this planet earth, the luminaries in the sky and the lower planetary systems. You have very clearly described these planets and the living entities who live on them
- These sins are like the dried leaves of creepers beneath a bamboo tree, which may be burned by fire although their roots remain to grow again at the first opportunity
- This fallen brahmana, Ajamila, gave trouble to others by arresting them, by cheating them in gambling or by directly plundering them. This was the way he earned his livelihood and maintained his wife and children
- This man Ajamila did not undergo atonement. Therefore because of his sinful life, we must take him into the presence of Yamaraja for punishment. There, according to the extent of his sinful acts, he will be punished and thus purified
- This subtle body is an effect of the three modes of material nature. It is composed of insurmountably strong desires, and therefore it causes the living entity to transmigrate from one body to another in human life, animal life and life as a demigod
- Thus a sober and faithful person who knows the religious principles is temporarily purified of all sins performed with his body, words and mind
- Thus Ajamila began spending whatever money he had inherited from his father to satisfy the prostitute with various material presentations so that she would remain pleased with him. He gave up all his brahminical activities to satisfy the prostitute
- To concentrate the mind, one must observe a life of celibacy and not fall down. One must undergo the austerity of voluntarily giving up sense enjoyment. One must then control the mind and senses, give charity, be truthful, clean and nonviolent
U
- Unless one is freed from the mode of ignorance, trying to counteract one action through another is useless because this will not uproot one's desires. Thus even though one may superficially seem pious, he will undoubtedly be prone to act impiously
- Unless the living entity is freed from the infection of the material modes of nature, he receives different types of bodies in which to enjoy or suffer, and according to the body, he is understood to have various inclinations
W
- We can see three different varieties of life, which are due to the contamination of the three modes of nature. The entities are thus known as peaceful, restless and foolish; as happy, unhappy or in-between; or as religious, irreligious and semireligious
- What is the process of punishing others? Who are the actual candidates for punishment? Are all karmis engaged in fruitive activities punishable, or only some of them?
- When Ajamila chewed food and ate it, he called the child to chew and eat, and when he drank he called the child to drink also
- When he saw them he was extremely bewildered, and because of attachment to his child, who was playing a short distance away, Ajamila began to call him loudly by his name. Thus with tears in his eyes he somehow or other chanted the holy name of Narayana
- When the living entity gets the body of a demigod, he is certainly very jubilant, when he gets a human body he is always in lamentation, and when he gets the body of an animal, he is always afraid
- When the order carriers of Yamaraja, the son of the sun-god, were thus forbidden, they replied: Who are you, sirs, that have the audacity to challenge the jurisdiction of Yamaraja?
- When the time of death arrived for the foolish Ajamila, he began thinking exclusively of his son Narayana
- With the help of this knowledge and his intellect, he tried to control his lusty desires, but because of the force of Cupid within his heart, he failed to control his mind
Y
- Yamadutas said: Your eyes are just like the petals of lotus flowers. Dressed in yellow silken garments, decorated with garlands of lotuses, and wearing very attractive helmets on your heads and earrings on your ears, you all appear fresh and youthful
- You (Visnudutas) are sinless, but those within this material world are all karmis, whether acting piously or impiously. Both kinds of action are possible for them because they are contaminated by the three modes of nature and must act accordingly
- You have also described (at the end of the Fifth Canto) the varieties of hellish life that result from impious activities & you have described (in the Fourth Canto) the first manvantara, which was presided over by Svayambhuva Manu, the son of Lord Brahma
- Your four long arms are decorated with bows & quivers of arrows & with swords, clubs, conchshells, discs and lotus flowers. Your effulgence has dissipated the darkness of this place with extraordinary illumination. Now, sirs, why are you obstructing us?